Pulse of the Alley – Lily Liu, CEO of Public Stuff

Today we speak with Lily Liu, Founder & CEO, of PublicStuff, an innovate company that streamlines the process for citizens to make requests to their local governments. Lily was recently selected as a 2013 NYC Venture Fellow by NYCEDC.

What is your take on the current scene in New York today?

New York is experiencing a boom of innovative new tech startups. Chinatown and other areas in Manhattan famous for being untouched, are now becoming hubs for ideation. Groups and incubators like Tech Meet Up, Silicon Alley, Kingfish Labs and others have helped catalyze the movement and foster a collaborative environment for entrepreneurs with the next big idea to get advice, potential investment and link up with those who share their vision.

What do you see happening over the next 3-5 years?

The number of companies are only going to grow. After the Bay Area, New York is a market where Finance, Media, Government and Commerce are huge and startups geared towards these ideas will continue to pop up and try and solve market challenges. I see the number of innovative companies eventually doubling in size.

What do you see as challenges?

Differentiation. Having a product that is not already out there, or a differentiating factor from the existing scene. There are a number of companies that do the same thing, but it’s having a mission, product and USP that stands out from the rest.

Where does your company fit in the ecosystem?

PublicStuff is the only digital communications solution in the gov-tech space that offers a 360 degree solution that enables communication between, and makes governments and citizens’ lives easier and more efficient to make community improvements. Our overall mission is to energize civic engagement and it’s been a great journey so far to onboard over 200 cities!

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About AlleyWatch

AlleyWatch is the destination for startup news; opinions and reviews; investment and product information; events experienced, seen, heard and overheard here in New York.